Hold’em vs. Dealer › Questions
When should you raise 4x before the flop in Hold’em vs. Dealer?
With any pair from 3s up, any ace, any suited king, K-5 offsuit or better, Q-6 suited or better, Q-8 offsuit or better, J-8 suited or better and J-10 offsuit. Check everything else, including pocket 2s.
Raising 4x is the best play with 69 of the 169 starting hands, 37.7% of all deals. At the edge of the list, K-5 offsuit raised is worth −0.1176 per unit of ante against −0.1511 for checking; K-4 offsuit, −0.2288 against −0.2060.
The hands at the edge of the list
The rule in the answer gives the best play on 169 of the 169 starting hands.
| Starting hand | Raise 4x | Check | Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | −0.2879 | −0.1795 | Check |
| 33 | +0.0885 | +0.0075 | Raise 4x |
| K2s | −0.0745 | −0.0799 | Raise 4x |
| K4o | −0.2288 | −0.2060 | Check |
| K5o | −0.1176 | −0.1511 | Raise 4x |
| Q5s | −0.0957 | −0.0745 | Check |
| Q6s | −0.0061 | −0.0281 | Raise 4x |
| Q7o | −0.2776 | −0.2094 | Check |
| Q8o | −0.0694 | −0.0926 | Raise 4x |
| J7s | −0.1066 | −0.0344 | Check |
| J8s | +0.1074 | +0.0963 | Raise 4x |
| J9o | −0.0700 | −0.0385 | Check |
| JTo | +0.1740 | +0.1103 | Raise 4x |
| T9s | +0.1852 | +0.2055 | Check |
Average result per unit of ante (the blind equals the ante; trips not included), with the best play on every later street. Exact: every card that can still come and every dealer hand.
Why
A 4x raise is the biggest bet in the game, and you only get to make it before seeing any cards. It pays when your hand is ahead of a random dealer hand often enough that putting four units in early beats waiting for the flop. High cards do most of the work: they make top pairs and win when the dealer has nothing. Pocket 2s are the exception among pairs, because almost any board gives the dealer a better pair.